Fatigue and Acupuncture

I’ve had many patients come to me for help with fatigue these past few weeks.

Treating people for fatigue with acupuncture is very interesting because there are so many reasons for a feeling of tiredness and so many ways acupuncture can be of benefit.

Often when people think of acupuncture they think of how it can help with pain, but also how it works with the body’s energy and can help revitalize how the body works. Here are a few trouble areas to check if you are feeling tired and how acupuncture can help.

Sleep

Sleep problems are a major reason for general fatigue. If a person’s sleep is affected, it is only a matter of time before tiredness sets in.

Sleeping is when the body heals itself.

There are many reasons for a sleep disturbance, such as insomnia, hot flashes, stress, or waking in the middle of the night with constant thoughts. Acupuncture is very useful for helping the body regain its correct sleep cycle in cases of insomnia, but can also help reduce hot flashes and help the body better handle stress.

One thing I love about acupuncture is that it literally forces the patient to be still and calm as the needles are placed on the body.

The sensation goes deeply into the body and affects the sympathetic nervous system creating a deep calm during the treatment that continues many days after the treatment.

Diet

Eating properly is very important in order to combat fatigue. If a person is eating irregularly or an inappropriate amount for their body’s needs, such as an extreme diet, tiredness can set it. Most digestive problems can also tax the body’s energy and reduce its ability to properly assimilate the food’s nutriments, thus compounding the problem.

Eating three well-balanced meals a day, full of fruits and vegetables, is the best step to take if a person’s diet is creating fatigue.

Acupuncture can be very useful for nearly all digestive problems and help the digestive organs to work at their full potential in order to better assimilate the energy in their food.

Stress

Stress comes in many forms, whether financial, family, work, or just plain worrying about the future. Stress can be an insidious problem that slowly sets in and is hard to get rid of. It slowly saps all the body’s resources, most importantly the adrenal glands, often without the person noticing it.There are many ways to deal with stress, taking a walk in nature, meditation, exercising, spending time with friends, (eating desserts!), but we often need a little outside help. This is where acupuncture can do wonders.

Acupuncture not only calms the body and mind, but it also helps strengthen the body’s natural resistance to stress.

Stress is a natural part of our ‘flight or fight’ response, but it becomes a problem when it gets out of control.

It is very important to find the root cause of fatigue in order to take care of it properly and make sure it doesn’t come back. I wish you all lots of energy this fall!